A weakened Iran is good for the Gulf and could expedite normalization of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, US Congressman Brad Schneider told Semafor in an interview in Abu Dhabi.
The Illinois Democrat — who is visiting Bahrain, Saudi, and the UAE this week as part of a bipartisan legislative delegation, which also hopes to get to Tel Aviv — said officials in the region see a nuclear Iran as “an existential threat.”
The war may even accelerate peace in the region. “I think the Abraham Accords and dealing with Iran’s nuclear threat are opposite sides of the same coin,” Schneider said. “The greatest victory over Iran’s vision would be a region fully integrated through security, economically, living in peace.”
The trip is being sponsored by Washington DC think tank Atlantic Council and the foundation of hedge funder Jeffrey Talpins.